02/19/2026
I recently looked through the data from the Epstein files, and it is gut-wrenching. The word "massage" appears thousands of times in these documents (over 7,900 results in just one dataset). In these files, "massage" wasn't therapy; it was a code word for the recruitment and exploitation of minors.
What makes me most upset is that these individuals had every resource and the ability to travel anywhere where prostitution was legal, yet they chose to use the "cover" of massage to facilitate abuse. This isn't just a crime against the victims; it is a direct assault on the integrity of every professional therapist who has spent years studying anatomy and physiology and manual therapy techniques.
This stigma doesn't just hurt our reputation—it affects your access to care. The historical association between "massage" and illicit businesses is a major reason why insurance companies are hesitant to cover massage therapy. While physical therapy is standard, massage is frequently excluded because the industry is unfairly viewed as "high risk" due to the actions of predators who have nothing to do with our actual training.
It is long past time for the truth to lead to consequences. With the recent release of over 3 million documents, the world is seeing the full scale of this network. We must demand full accountability for every associate, enabler, and co-conspirator named in these files. Wealth and power should never be a shield for the exploitation of the vulnerable.
Justice for the survivors means ensuring that no one is above the law—and it means finally stripping the "cover" of massage away from criminals so our profession can be seen for the healthcare service it truly is.